We live in an era of remakes and remasters, and while new games are always exciting it’s always nice to bring older titles to a new audience. I’ve been on a journey through history via shoot ‘em ups this year, playing everything from Gradius to Platypus thanks to wonderful remasters, and apparently the shmup train has plenty of stops left in 2025. I won’t pretend that I had any idea what Mamorukun ReCurse was before I was asked to review it (or that I could spell its name without looking at the title card on my Switch) but I can confirm it’s a hell of a good time.
There’s actually a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I wouldn’t have heard of Mamorukun ReCurse (or the original title Mamorukun Curse) and that’s because it was released exclusively in Japan in arcades in 2008. There were a number of console ports that came a number of years later and even made their way across the pond to North America, but here in Europe we have never been graced by its bullet filled presence. Until now, that is.
Set in The Netherworld, Mamorukun ReCurse tells the story of the recently deceased Mamoru. In the afterlife he meets a selection of other folks, and then finds out that the Netherworld is under attack and has to go on an adventure. There’s more chatting between stages in Mamorukun than most shmups I’ve played, and while it’s not the most engrossing narrative of 2025 I suppose it does add a bit of character to this generally gameplay focused genre (and you can just skip it if you’d prefer to get to the action).
Mamorukun ReCurse may be an arcade style shoot ‘em up, but it’s also got plenty of tricks up its sleeve. For one it’s actually a twin stick shooter (apparently an upgrade from its original release) where you’ll move around with the left stick and shoot with the right. It also doesn’t just automatically scroll through each stage, and instead allows you to walk around freely and even pick routes that’ll lead to different enemies and power ups.
It also doesn’t feature traditional lives, and instead each of the five heroes on this adventure will count as a life. They all have different shot styles, such as the ever loved spread shot, and easy to use homing shot. If you get hit as one of these characters they’ll die (or I guess re-die) until you find a heart, and you’ll immediately swap into someone else. It’s a cool way to ensure you don’t rely on one shooting style, and even enforces a bit of variety on the player.
As well as the normal shots you fire in Mamorukun ReCurse, there are also curse shots which are incredibly powerful and needed to beat tougher foes. By charging this alternative offensive shot you’ll be able to unleash a damaging zone that cuts through enemy health bars like butter and slows down certain hazards, and when you fire it you’ll also wipe out all bullets on the screen. Balancing using this ability for offence and defence is key if you want to survive the bullet hell bosses lurking in later levels, so make sure you curse as often as possible.
It’s worth mentioning that alongside all these unique features, Mamorukun ReCurse also has an absolutely wonderful soundtrack. It probably has some of the best music I’ve heard in a video game all year, which feels like a wild thing to be able to say about a lesser known retro shoot ‘em up.
If you somehow were one of the few in the west who got to experience Mamorukun Curse well over a decade ago, you’ll be delighted to hear that the new package of ReCurse features plenty of extra content. There are multiple modes like a story, arcade and even a challenge mode to enjoy, as well as extra DLC characters available by default. New fans likely won’t realise that all these modes are from various different versions of the game, but they’re fun to play through.
Mamorukun ReCurse is an entertaining shmup, but it’s not without its faults. The visuals for example are pretty dated, which is a shame in such a timeless genre. The levels also struggle to differentiate from each other, and all sort of blend together in my mind instead of providing new and memorable moments. There’s very little that’s actively bad about the game, but I just can’t imagine wanting to play it through multiple times after completing it – and it doesn’t really take long to do that.
Mamorukun ReCurse is an interesting shoot ‘em up with plenty of clever ideas, but with so many great alternatives it’s hard to recommend over its peers. The curse shot is cool and the soundtrack is on another level, but its lack of memorable stages and epic boss fights really hold it back.
